Yes, since March 9, 2020, KIPO has been conducting searches only for no more than 70 claims (which comprise no more than 6 independent claims) if it receives a PCT application which consists of more than 100 claims.
Such a decision was made pursuant to Article 6 and Rule 6.1(a) PCT, current examination practices of USPTO/ISA and EPO/ISA, and referring to the average number of PCT application claims submitted to KIPO/ISA.
* ISA Statistics carried out by KIPO in 2019 shows:
(1) 99 percent of PCT applications consist of less than 70 claims.
(2) On average, there are 5.31 independent claims in an application which consists of 60 to 70 total claims.
Thus, regarding a PCT application with more than 100 claims, KIPO will contact the applicant by sending them PCT/ISA/224 format before carrying out the international search. This is to provide the applicant an opportunity to select the claims to be searched by the KIPO/ISA.
Through this change, KIPO is hoping to provide more equitable and better-quality services for all applicants requesting KIPO for an international search practice.